Jammu, August 06: In a shocking turn of events the back wall of the upcoming Dharamshala of the Jain temple at Zorawar Singh Chowk collapsed on a hutment killing a mother and her daughter while injuring another family of five.

Two huts were crushed after the wall collapsed in heavy rains

U4UVoice visited the location to take a stock of things and found out an appalling case of disquieting disregard on the part of the contractor who has taken up the job of construction work of the Jain Temple Dharamshala.

U4UVoice spoke to a member of the committee who did not wish to be named and he said, “The back wall of the Dharamshala is more than two decades old and belonged to a land that was illegally gheraoed and was recently reacquired by the temple committee after a legal fight.”

The collapsed wall killed a woman, 22 and her daughter who was all of 6 months of ageRemaining Kutcha wall which can fall anytime and will cause further damage

Another shocking fact point to note was the complete absence of a foundation below that wall which has been raised directly on the ground and can fall at any given time. In this picture you can see the remaining part of the wall which again is kutcha and can fall anytime too unless corrective measures are taken.

Members of the temple committee allege that this hutment area is set up by a man who had rented these huts out to these labourers. The land behind the wall has been standing for years and has become weak because the ground behind the wall has been dug up to make space for Jhuggis to come up.

The mother and her daughter who were killed in the freak accident belonged to Dhadri in Madhya Pradesh. The woman was all of 22 years of age and used to work as a daily wagers with her husband who escaped death but has received injuries. The daughter, Ragini, was all of six months of age.

The family of five belonged to Bihar and have received grave injuries and have been shifted to hospital for treatment.While talking to members who are living in this hutment area, one of the men said, “I want to report this matter to the government. I know that we are poor people and our lives have no value. Not one member from this Jain temple has come to address this matter even as the news of collapsed wall spread out.”

Whether the contractor of construction work of the Jain temple Dharamshala will be held responsible, remains to be seen.

The question that should however arise is whether a poor man’s life has no value at all? Will this be another Salman Khan like case where the poor who come to bigger cities to earn bread and get killed and no justice is served to them and their families?